Millions lost on online dating scams

Australians are being warned not to fall prey to online dating scams if they are looking for love this Valentine's Day.

Last year 2,100 victims reported online dating scams to the national consumer watchdog, with their losses totalling more than $21 million.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s deputy chairman Dr Michael Schaper says online dating scams have a conversion rate of more than 50 per cent – meaning that more than half the people targeted fall prey to the scam.

"That is by far and away the highest victimisation rate of any group of scam operators in the country," he told ABC News Online.

Not only do a large proportion of those approached fall victim, 5 per cent of victims lose more than $100,000, and the average loss from an online dating scam is $20,000.

Dr Schaper says the scammer usually tries to move the online relationship quickly away from the dating website onto email or sometimes telephone, and also asks for money or financial details early on.

"They do so by posing as, for example, someone based overseas, someone whose child has had an accident and urgently needs money for a medical procedure, someone who may be stuck on an offshore operation, or even as a military operator who needs money to get a visa, to get a ticket of leave back home," he said.

Due to the prevalence and social cost of the problem, the ACCC has worked with dating websites to come up with a set of best practice guidelines, which will include warnings to users at 'points of decision' – such as where a user is about to make initial contact with another user.

However, Dr Schaper says those looking for love online also need to protect themselves.

"You should very carefully avoid anyone whose primary goal seems to be to get money out of you," he said.

"If you do get scammed, report it to the website operator, report it to the ACCC’s SCAMwatch website and, if you've lost money, advise not only the police but also your financial institution."

However, Dr Schaper says many of the scammers are located offshore, making prosecution and the recovery of money very difficult.

He also has a particular warning for those who think they are too tech savvy to fall victim.

"Scammers seem to be equal opportunity operators – almost as many men are affected or hit by scammers as are women," Dr Schaper observed.

"We find also that tech-savvy young people are just as likely to fall victim to a scam operation as are older people who might be using the web with much less experience."